Feminist rant alert. That is, if expecting not to be beaten up because I say something that some man somewhere doesn’t like qualifies as feminism. I would have expected it to fall straight under the human and civil rights department, but apparently Minister Helena Dalli is having none of it. Who am I to quibble?

First things first. Helena Dalli, her with the civil rights ministerial portfolio, has just released this gem: “women should not play victim, when they were guilty of emotional abuse”. Read the full story here: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151125/local/domestic-violence-minister-insists-on-equality-warns-women-not-to-play.593518.

This, to mark the one day when the world focuses on the elimination of violence against women. As if one day of speeches is enough to undo the damage of 100s of years of cultural baggage, but let’s not go there.

And, just in case her meaning is unclear – and to make sure we can’t even give her the benefit of the doubt – she continues putting her foot in it: “Every case has to be seen in its context. For example, when a woman shouts abuse and provoked an incident and the man reacted, one could not then play the victim.”

Excuse me? After the massive efforts that are currently going towards eradicating the idea, considered perfectly acceptable for 100s of years, that it’s okay to beat up a woman (or worse) when she asks for it, our civil rights minister decides to rewind the clock by a few decades with one simple, ill-thought-out phrase.

After so many horrific crimes, where women almost lost their lives or actually did – lawyer Margaret Mifsud, anyone? – can we really forgive these kind of faux pas by the very minister supposed to safeguard against them? I, for one, cannot.

If we take the minister’s comment to its logical conclusion, we are forced to accept that in the above-mentioned case, the victim may very well have done something to ‘deserve’ getting strangled. What are we to understand with the word ‘provoked’? Constant nagging, vociferous disagreement? Even if taken to the most extreme form of “shouting abuse” as quoted by Minister Dalli (again, what does this mean exactly? Do insults against someone’s mother qualify? A perceived attack on masculinity?) how can we ever justify a violent response?

If a man really can’t take a woman’s “tongue-lashing” any more, he has more than one option available and none of them include reaching for a knife or using his fists. He can put on his earplugs. Or, here’s a novel idea, if he’s feeling so provoked he can even walk out the door and end a relationship that evidently is not working. It’s not like the solution is not possible, nowadays.

I was under the impression that civilised society was built precisely on the belief that one doesn’t go around beating up people simply because one is ‘provoked’.

Thank you, minister, for teaching the whole nation that a violent response against women is perfectly acceptable in today’s society.